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PHILADELPHIA -- More than 14 months removed from his last time in the octagon,
Rashad Evans fought with the ferocity of a man with some pent-up aggression. Manhandling the bigger, stronger
Tito Ortiz in a way that few men have, Evans brutalized him through the course of almost two complete rounds, finally finishing with a second-round TKO with just 12 seconds left on the clock.
It was a decisive and complete conclusion to a rematch that was more than four years in the making, stemming from their July 7, 2007 bout that ended in a draw. At the time, Evans was a green fighter taking on an established former champion. The bout served as a maturing experience, helping him develop into a champion himself.
The second fight was not nearly as competitive. Ortiz was game, but aside from a guillotine attempt in the second round, he never truly threatened his opponent. Evans had plenty of big moments of his own though, particularly a second-round knee to the body that crumpled Ortiz and led to the finish.
"My body shut down," Ortiz said afterward. "My mind was saying, "Fight, fight fight.' My body was saying, 'No, no, no. What can you do? I tried to defend myself. Rashad was the better fighter tonight."
? Afterward, Evans reiterated his desire to reclaim the light heavyweight title.
"Whether [
Jon Jones] has it or Rampage [Jackson] has it, I'm getting my belt back," he said.
Evans nearly finished Ortiz in the first round after slamming him with a scoop slam and raining down blows from Ortiz's half-guard, but the always durable ex-champ managed to last the round despite a late flurry that had referee Dan Miragliotta closely watching the action.
Ortiz got up after the round quickly, but he came out for the second looking like he'd had something taken out of him. Evans could see it and took full advantage. Evans took him down quickly, but that led to a quick moment of drama as Ortiz latched on to a guillotine. Evans quickly stepped to the side to make sure Ortiz couldn't close his guard and tighten the hold, then escaped a short time later.
"I thought it was close for one-tenth of a second," said Ortiz, who said he made a mistake that allowed Evans to escape.
From there, Ortiz was pinned against the cage, and Evans took advantage of the position by briefly scissoring his arm and dropping punches and elbows from the top. Ortiz tried to buck free and a scramble ended with Ortiz on his knees and Evans standing. From the position, Evans smashed him with a right knee to the body. Ortiz immediately fell over on his side, and Evans followed with hard blows from the top to stop the action.
Ortiz said the knee took the fight out of him.
"I tried to get my body up," he said. "My mind said, 'Get up,' but my body wasn't doing it. The ref said, 'Protect yourself.' I had my hands up, I tried to get up, the heart said, 'Get up,' the mind says, 'Get up,' but the body doesn't react to it."
The win virtually ensured that Evans will fight the winner of
UFC 135's title bout between Jackson and Jones, barring any unforeseen development like an injury.
While Evans first said he had no preference of the winner, after defeating Ortiz, he said that he preferred to fight Jones, his former teammate at Team Greg Jackson.
"I would like to the first one to beat him, he's real cocky," Evans said. "I'm on-camera cocky. He's like, go-to-sleep-praising-himself cocky. I would love to teach him a lesson. If he makes it past Rampage then I'll get a chance to do that."
Evans, who also has a rivalry with Jackson, then added that Jackson could come train with him for the fight.
At 16-1-1, Evans has Ortiz behind him. The two embraced before the final decision was read and shared a moment, with Evans thanking him for taking the fight on short notice, and Ortiz telling Evans to go win the title.
Four years after it started, Evans-Ortiz is finally decided, and the reward for the winner is not just bragging rights, but a title opportunity.
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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/08/07/rashad-evans-crushes-ortiz-says-he-wants-to-teach-jon-jones-a-l/
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